Fort Siloso
Fort Siloso | |
---|---|
Battle of Singapore | |
Garrison information | |
Garrison | British Royal Artillery Singapore Artillery Corps |
Designated | 15 February 2022 |
Reference no. | 74 |
Fort Siloso is a decommissioned coastal
History
Construction
The word "Siloso" of the fort's name is derived from a Malayan word meaning "rock". There was a huge rock at the mouth of Singapore's harbour which imposed a hazard to passing shipping. With trade ever flourishing in Singapore since the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, it became necessary to protect Singapore's port. Based on the report by Major Edward Lake of the British Royal Engineers, a fort was decided to be built on Pulau Blakang Mati (Sentosa) in 1874 to protect Keppel Harbour. As part of the planned fortifications, Mount Siloso's top was blown off to flatten it for the installation of coastal-artillery gun platforms. By the 1880s, several gun batteries were located on Mount Siloso and Mount Serapong (facing north towards mainland Singapore on Sentosa's northern coast) on Pulau Blakang Mati, becoming a stronghold of British naval defences in Singapore. Fort Siloso was built in 1878.
Armament
By the 1880s, Fort Siloso possessed
World War II
The forts were designed and built to defend Singapore against an invasion by sea from the south. However, during the
The building at the entrance of Fort Siloso is now known as the Surrender Chambers and has a vivid portrayal of the scenes of the British and Japanese surrenders in WWII with actual footage of the war being played interactively. This is on the upper storey, with the ground floor having been turned into a souvenir shop. During the
Post-World War II
After the Japanese surrender in 1945, the Royal Navy occupied the fort in 1946 and its guns were manned by the 1st Malay Coast Battery and Royal Artillery. Gurkha detachments from British India took over manning the guns when the British gunners were withdrawn and the 1st Malay Coast Battery was disbanded sometime later in 1946. During the Konfrontasi period between Sukarno's Indonesia and the Malaysian Federation from 1963 to 1965, Fort Siloso was manned by the 10th Gurkha Rifles to prevent Indonesian military-trained saboteurs from landing on Sentosa and Keppel Harbour slightly inland.
Fort Siloso became a Catholic retreat for locally based British forces until Sentosa was handed over to the Singapore government following the British military withdrawal starting in 1967. The Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) then took control over the fort.
Fort Siloso was then converted into a military museum in 1974, displaying its history and various naval guns. Other coastal guns (both British and Japanese) from different parts of Singapore, such as a pair of Japanese naval cannons discovered and brought over from Mandai, were put here for display. It had previously held the display of the British surrender of Singapore in February 1942 until its relocation to the Former Ford Factory (the actual site of the British surrender) in Bukit Timah in February 2006.
Plans for the gazetting of Fort Siloso into a national monument began in June 2016 as it is also a wartime museum, and also a military museum dedicated to Republic of Singapore Navy. Fort Siloso was gazetted on 15 February 2022.[2]
See also
References
- ^ Wong Heng. "Fort Siloso". National Library Board. Archived from the original on 16 February 2022. Retrieved 16 February 2022.
- ^
- Ng Keng Gene (19 January 2022). "Fort Siloso to be gazetted as national monument". The Straits Times. Archived from the original on 15 February 2022.
- Ng Keng Gene (15 February 2022). "Fort Siloso gazetted as Singapore's 74th national monument, first site to be preserved". The Straits Times. Archived from the original on 16 February 2022.